New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi told the Supreme Court that he is ready to face the trial in the defamation case filed by the RSS. His counsel Kapil Sibal told the top court that he stood by his remarks blaming the RSS for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

"I stand by what I said and will repeat it. Ready to face the trial," the Congress vice president said.

The Congress leader also withdrew his petition from the Supreme Court for the quashing of a defamation case against him. The bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman did not grant Rahul Gandhi an exemption from appearing before the trial court in Maharashtra's Bhiwandi court in the case.

The Congress backed its vice president and said, "Rahul Gandhi has always stood by his comment on RSS, be it in the past or be it today, and he will in the future." Earlier, Rahul Gandhi told the Supreme Court that he had never blamed RSS as an institution for killing Mahatma Gandhi but persons associated with it were behind the assassination.

He had buttressed his stand by citing paragraphs from his affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court, while challenging the summons issued to him as an accused for his alleged defamatory statement in an election rally in Maharashtra. RSS activist Rajesh Kunte filed the defamation case against the Congress leader over his remarks.

But later he tweeted, "I will never stop fighting the hateful & divisive agenda of the RSS. I stand by every single word I said."

Rahul Gandhi had moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court order refusing to interfere with the defamation case against him.(With agency inputs)